Adapt (A Touch of Power Book 2)

by Jay Boyce

  Anyway, Victor seemed mollified by her words, giving a dark chuckle at the thought of people spending so much on scribbles. They soon arrived at the second floor, and she realized that while they may have fewer classrooms, they were much larger than those in Magnus, so it was probably close to the same size overall. Since they weren't placed next to each other, most people probably wouldn't notice. There was a steady stream of students going into the classroom they were headed for, and Camille explained in response to Jade's confused look. "The general classes, especially the evening ones, are some of the most popular, partially because there aren't as many conflicting classes, but also because things like business, monster study, and command are extremely important here. How good you are at certain things determines how far you'll go after graduation, especially since many students will join the guard first." This explained the fact that every guard she'd met had the lowest noble title at the very least.

  As they entered the classroom rather quickly, rather than having to wait, most of the students had parted to let the royal party through, they looked around to choose a seat as Jade announced, "I'd like an end seat so my fellacai have a little more room to move." Or at least, that was the excuse she was going to use. Nodding, they went to a row in the middle—the seats were auditorium style—and the three of them had a silent staring contest, as if fighting for something. Jade tilted her head, pondering their strange behavior. It wasn't until Camille firmly latched onto her arm and stared her brothers down that Jade realized they were having a silent argument about who got to sit next to her, which Camille had obviously just won since Victor and Will filed in first with Camille triumphantly smiling as she took the second seat from the end.

  Jade chuckled softly at their antics as she sat down, purposefully leaving an arm over the side so that she could brush people lightly as they passed. Most of the time, they looked down and said sorry as they bumped her, thinking it was their fault, and she just smiled innocently and replied. "Oh, it's no problem." In fact, it was quite the opposite. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat that got the cream.

  Camille glanced over after the umpteenth time and asked, "Jade, why don't you just pull your arm in until everyone is settled?"

  Jade laughed because this was the first time someone had called her out on her need to touch people, and she shrugged innocently. "I like to study reactions. This is an easy way to do that." It wasn't a lie, not really. It wasn't her real reason, but she did like studying people. She'd always studied her nurses. If they could treat her as their little experiment, she would study them in return. Turnabout’s fair play, after all. She was always curious as to what made them tick, when they were having a good or a bad day. They always tried to act cheerful, but she'd learned to tell. Still, it came in handy sometimes because she'd learned to read their expressions quite well.

  Her introspection and Camille's response were cut short when an older gentleman walked to the front of the room, trailed by three younger looking men who looked to be his assistants. He cleared his throat, beady brown eyes staring down the room within his wrinkled face. "Let's talk business, shall we?"

  She smiled. This would hopefully be very helpful.

  Chapter Fourteen – Living

  The professor continued smoothly, "My name is Duke Richard Mallick. My assistants are Baronets Jonathan, Eugene, and Kent. If you need any help, they are the ones to talk to." He paused, making sure he had their attention before he continued. "Business is the lifeblood of the kingdom. Without it, we are nothing more than barbarians without order. Therefore, it's in your best interests to–"

  "Ahhh!" A shrill shriek came from right behind Jade, startling her. The fellacai had been flapping their wings a little, preparing to go down to her lap. When everyone turned to stare at her, she pointed at Jade and wailed tearfully, "She has fellacai in her hair!"

  Duke Richard sighed, snapping his finger, bringing attention back to him as murmurs spread through the room as people craned their necks, trying to get a better look. "Yes, they are Lady Jade's bonded creatures and are completely harmless." Seeing most of the students still craning their necks to look at Jade, he snapped waspishly, "What, do I need something shiny to retain your attention?"

  One of the brave students on the second row called out jokingly, "It wouldn't hurt."

  Jade was quickly becoming red under the situation, but she was glad Richard at least seemed to know they were hers. She glanced at Camille, who muttered under her breath, "Most of the teachers were watching when you named them." Oh, well that explained why he knew they were hers and harmless, at least. Helpful.

  She didn't want everyone to keep staring at her though, so she mentally spoke to Ramoth and Amber, her two flashiest and the ones happiest to be the center of attention, "Go sit on Duke Richard's shoulders, please." She included a mental image of Richard so they would know who she was talking about, and they were happy to comply, flinging themselves into the air above the heads of the students. There were gasps and sighs of appreciation as they flew over to Richard, settling one on each shoulder like little sentinels, staring out at the audience while seeming to preen a little.

  He now had everyone's full attention, and he chuckled softly, nodding to Jade as he said, "Many thanks. Now, please try and pay attention."

  Jade quickly sent a command to the rest of them to come down, and they flapped adroitly to her lap before lightly hopping around between her and the three royals, out of sight of pretty much everyone else. The four of them had small smiles on their faces as they watched the antics of the fellacai out of the corner of their eyes or glanced down at their frolicking, while Richard continued talking.

  "Business is a relationship between the seller and buyer. As nobles, many of you will either take over family businesses or start or buy your own in order to support your lifestyle. Now, a few things that are vitally important…" The next two hours seemed to fly by as Richard talked about various aspects of business, such as having a contractual mage available for long term supply contracts, how various resources were acquired in the city, what was traded with the villages outside the city, and so forth. It was very enlightening, though almost entirely a lecture. Jade was a little curious that the idea of marketing hadn't come up at all, but maybe he'd cover that in another lesson.

  As he dismissed the class, he reminded them, "I want all of you to bring a one page paper next week that tells me what business you are considering or wanting to go into and why. What do you think you can bring to the table? If you need help writing it, please contact the assistants who will arrange a tutor to help you." This was probably said for those who didn't know how to read and write. Jade absently wondered if her chicken scratch with a quill counted as writing. She'd gotten the skill, so it obviously did, but still, it was such a poor excuse for writing that she was a little disgusted by it. She obviously missed when he dismissed them because people were getting to their feet all around her. She quickly called out to her fellacai, who stopped playing and returned to her braid. Ramoth and Amber came flying well above the heads of people until they were right above her, then dove down quickly to rejoin their family.

  She smiled, gently brushing fingers along Ramoth’s and Amber's wings as she said mentally, "Good job." They preened a little more, and she finally managed to join the flow of students going outwards, followed closely by the royals. She tried to gently brush up against a few more people as they crowded their way out, not even the royal status giving them breathing room at this point. Everyone wanted to go home! Jade paused at the stairs, looking wistfully upwards. She really wanted to go look at the art gallery.

  Camille touched her elbow, encouraging her, "Go ahead and go up. We've got to go back to the palace for a family gathering, but we'll see you tomorrow." She smiled and Jade nodded, bidding the royal family farewell. Looking at the students streaming downwards, she instead went up, curiosity getting the better of her. When she finally reached the fifth floor, she was panting a little with the effort, and the fella
cai were flitting around her as if to offer encouragement, since she'd said they could fly around now that they were alone, as long as they stayed close. She didn't know if there was anyone else already up there, but she didn't want them getting attacked.

  She pushed open the doors to the art gallery, entering into the darkened area. The only light was coming from the stars through the glass roof of the courtyard. She didn't see anyone else around, as the area was basically one open room, just with square pillars everywhere displaying art on each side. Some had glass shelves for smaller sculptures, and every painting had a glass covering for protection. They were mostly around the edge, probably to protect them from direct sunlight. More sculptures were in the middle. In order to get a better look, she was about to light up her hands when she thought of something. Calling her fellacai over, she held her arm out as they landed. She had them turn around, then concentrated on their tail end. Much like her wind wall at the east gate, she wanted a timed enchantment.

  When she thought she had it right, she touched each fellacai in turn, and they began emitting different colored sparkles of light as they flew around. They started swirling through the air, obviously excited by their trails of light. It didn't help her see all that much better, but they were quite beautiful. She did the same thing to herself, only she created a literal halo at the back of her head so it wouldn't blind her but would light up the area around her. Grinning at her own silliness, she walked around with her glowing butterflies to look at the art.

  As Victor had said, some of it…wasn't all that great. Most of the outermost paintings were actually labelled and she realized they were the kings and queens of the past, as well as those who had their names on buildings. She studied their stern or smiling faces; those were the only two emotions she saw. They all seemed to have been painted in their prime for the most part. Her fellacai were racing on ahead of her, and she heard a startled shout. Running over, she found a man sitting on the ground, staring in awe at the fellacai. When he saw her, he gave a start, bowing hastily as he said, "Heavenly Mother! Have you come to take me to my son?"

  Jade was freaking out a little. The smell of alcohol was super strong and she figured that the jug next to him on the ground had probably been full of it at one point, though now it was literally reeking out of his pores. Finally, she managed to squeak, "I'm sorry, I'm just a student with light magic. I'm not Heavenly Mother..."

  Her words seemed to sink into the man, and he looked up again, his eyes finally seeming to take in more details than the fact that she was sporting a halo of light and ten fellacai who were trailing sparkles. The almost hopeful look on his face seemed to sink, and he nodded, looking at his jug before he took another swig, muttering despondently, "Oh. Okay."

  Jade was torn. He was obviously not in his right mind and piss drunk. She crouched next to him, confessing, "I'm also a healer. Can I help you?"

  That seemed to get his attention, and he focused on her before slowly shaking his head. "No, not much you can do. Can't bring my son back."

  She paused, then gave up and flopped to the ground next to him, surprising him by staying. She was no psychologist, but she wasn't about to leave an obviously grieving man alone. Sometimes, people just needed someone to listen, and she could at least try. It had seemed to help the few people who she’d run into at the hospital on the occasions they took her out in a wheelchair. "Can you tell me about him?"

  He looked at her, at her halo, the fellacai flitting around her, then slowly nodded. "I s'pose so." His speech was a little slurred, not surprising considering the smell. She absently raised a light breeze, trying to blow it away from her. The wind seemed to wake him up a little bit and he looked at her even more curiously, then said dreamily, "My son's name was Charles. He was among the best and brightest of the academy, my pride and joy. He was following in my footsteps to become a great water mage, but he was gifted with earth and metal magic as well. He was unique. He'd just won the art competition for the year when he was taken by those damn mesmer." He groaned, putting his face in his hands. "He was so gifted, so WHY!? Why him!? He had so much life ahead of him!"

  Jade put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, her magic going into him as she explored his ailments. His liver was failing and he seemed to have an advanced state of blood poisoning. His nerves were firing randomly and in awkward ways, and there was a blood clot building in his brain. Panicked, she started fixing him as quickly as she could, but she needed to get the toxins out of his body.

  "What're you dooooin?" He slurred at her, seeming to feel the fact that his body was changing without his permission.

  She met his eyes as she spoke firmly, "I'm going to fix you." Hesitating for a moment, she looked him straight in the eyes, layering her voice with threads of compulsion as she said soothingly, "Be at peace. Your son would want you to live on and learn to be happy again. Sleep now, and when you wake, you'll feel rested. Your son is at peace, and now it's your turn. This will be a hazy memory. Dream happy dreams and allow yourself to let go of the past."

  His eyes were drifting closed as he mumbled, "Learn to be happy again…" When he finally passed out, she heaved a sigh of relief. She could make him sweat out the poison, but it'd be easier if she could create an easy exit. Holding his arm, she took one of her throwing knives and made a small cut. From that, she began to draw all the alcohol and poisoning out of his system, fixing his faltering nerves and getting rid of the blood clot. A thick, foul smelling, viscous fluid was released, and she directed it into the jar; she was going to toss that. She was sweating by the time she finally finished and nearly twenty minutes had passed. It was the longest healing she'd ever done.

  Making sure he was comfortable, she used water magic to quickly clean herself off, then put her sweat and dirt into the jar too, grabbing it. She paused, looking down at the poor man as she whispered, "I really hope you do find peace. Slowly killing yourself won't solve anything. There are so many people who don't have the chance to live, so you shouldn't waste the chance you've been given. There's so much good you can do. No sick person ever wants to be a burden, and...I doubt your son would want to be the cause of you having a miserable life. Those who've moved on just want their families and friends to be happy." He was asleep, so she knew he hadn't heard her consciously, but she hoped he might subconsciously.

  Moving to the stairs, she quickly took away her halo of light and the sparkle streams of the fellacai. They flitted around her as she lit up her hand, descending the stairs and making her way out of the building and off campus, tossing the jar into the trash on her way out. She bid the guards there goodnight and quickly made her way through the darkened streets back to The Green Dragon, snacking on food from her bag along the way to recoup her energy.

  Dealing with the past was the burden of the living. It wasn't easy, but it was necessary.

  Chapter Fifteen – Death

  She made her way back safely, but she still felt the weight of that man's feelings pressing upon her. She only hoped she'd made the right decision to help him. His first words when he saw her—Have you come to take me to see my son?—were still haunting her. She was going to be very, very careful to not use that halo effect again, especially if it made people think she was a saint or a goddess. There already seemed to be enough cult worship with the travelers; she really didn't need to make it worse.

  As she opened the door to the common room, she was greeted with the sound of voices chattering cheerfully, brightly recounting their experiences from the day to their friends. As she stepped inside, letting the door close behind her, she noticed Chloe, Ian, and Mathis first. They were huddled around a table, and if she wasn't wrong, it looked like they were going over letters. It made her smile. They were tutoring Ian before his reading class. Jackson, Evan, and Adam were at another table with a few more students, and it looked like they were playing cards. Jackson caught her eye, beckoning her over. She just smiled a little wanly and shook her head, mouthing the words 'not tonight.' He nodded, looking a litt
le concerned. He glanced at the table, then excused himself, making his way over.

  He ran a hand through his curly red hair as he finally met her halfway across the room and asked, "Hey, Jade. Everything okay?"

  Jade smiled at him, trying to make it a little brighter. "Yeah, I just had a bit of a strange encounter that I'm trying to make sense of. I'll try and play with you guys another night. You'll have to teach me though. I've never played many games." Well, unless it was stuff like Spider solitaire that she could play on her computer, but she didn't think that counted.

  He nodded, still studying her. "Alright. Just let me know if you need anything." He still seemed concerned, and she smiled at him again.

  "I'm fine, but thank you." She patted him lightly on the shoulder and his whole upper body seemed to flush as she observed him with interest. He nodded and quickly excused himself from her prying glance, but his mission had been accomplished; he'd cheered her up, even if only a little and at his expense. Probably rather unintentionally, too.

  At this point Kaylee had noticed her, and she too came over. "Jade, you're back! How was your first day of classes?" There were starry lights in Kaylee's eyes and Jade remembered how much she revered those who went to Dracona, dreaming wistfully about what happened there.

  She laughed softly, admitting, "It was a little crazy. I think I'm on a bit of information overload."

  It was then that Kaylee's eyes widened as she pointed to Jade's braid where her fellacai were resting. Jade quickly held up a hand, "Oh, don't worry, they're mine! I bonded with them this afternoon, so I'll probably need a semi steady supply of juice to feed them." She smiled comfortingly as Kaylee seemed to calm down, then finally move a little closer, fascinated by the beautiful creatures.

  She smiled, shaking her head. "You're always full of surprises. Why don't you take them to the roof? I think they'd like the herb garden up there and you won't startle anyone until we can spread the word. I'll bring you up something to eat. You must be famished."